'You always have options,' or so suggests the popular saying. Count me in among those who insist that humankind possesses free will. We can choose among the broad variety of possibilities that we're confronted with from moment to moment. No decision is absolutely irrevocable except, perhaps, the choice to end one's own life, but even that one is not so much a matter of a lack of free will, it's a matter of a lack of time. Our range of choices is not absolute: we cannot choose to do or to become anything we want, because every choice exists within a context of possibilities. However, within the range of the personally possible, we can freely choose.
For every option we face in life, there are only three possible choices. Many people falsely believe that there are only two: to opt 'for' a choice or 'against' it. However, as the existentialist philosopher, Jean-Paul Sartre, pointed out in one of his most his famous sayings, "Not to choose is a choice," albeit, in Sartre's view, an 'inauthentic' one. Since we have been given the power of free choice, we do an injustice to our own humanity not to exercise it: an injustice the results of which we are condemned by our own actions to endure.
Take, for example, the case of exercising our free choice as citizens of a democratic society. We have the freedom to accept or reject each person running for office (so long as we do not vote for more people than there are seats to fill). We also have the the third choice: not to vote at all. If we were to do that, we'd forfeit the right to complain (although many non-voters do it regardless, although inauthentically). If you're going to let others make your choices for you, then you have to accept what choices the others have made for you.
Is there a choice that's always the right one? Is there an option that's not really optional, and, if there is such a thing, what is it? I suspect that Sartre was very cognizant of this one: we always have the choice whether or not to live authentic lives, but it is never right to choose inauthenticity over authenticity. In other words, it's never right to choose to do the wrong thing for you. We often make mistakes, but these can be corrected. We can even make choices that take us down the wrong road; these can be rectified. What can't be fixed is choosing to live in utter disregard for your own best interests.
This is where discerning your destiny and purpose comes in. You've been given a destiny and purpose along with your unique share of humanity's genetic material. You exist within a specific spatiotemporal context not entirely of your own choosing. The totality of your potential to self-actualize within the limits of your identity defines your destiny here and now, although the choices you make today will further narrow and shape it continually. Choosing to align yourself with your destiny is not only a smart move, it's really your only authentic choice. It's what we call your 'fundamental option' and it circumscribes what 'success' will mean for you, and whether or not you ever make the contribution to humanity for which you were born. Yes, it's that serious.
I find that people often waste much their resources because they're not very clear about their destiny, or what purpose their lives are meant to fulfill. It's all about taking responsibility for yourself: refusing to 'opt out' and to allow the rest of the world to make your choices for you. It's also all about being intensely true to yourself and your life's purpose. If "a mind is a terrible thing to waste," then wasting a life has got to be a crime against humanity. Can you identify and explain your fundamental option? Do you review and renew it on a daily basis? And, incidentally, is it big enough for you?
H. Les Brown, MA, FCC
Copyright © 2008 H. Les Brown
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